The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday announced steps towards co-operation with and providing support for the civil aviation sector in the fraternal Republic of Iraq. CAA said the move enhances the recent achievements of Iraqi Airways, which reflects positively on air transport in Iraq and the region as the authority seeks to boost co-operation and exchange expertise in the field of civil aviation with counterparts in friendly countries.

The announcement came during the official visit of Iraqi Minister of Transport Kadhim Finjan al-Hammami and the delegation accompanying him to Qatar, during which he met HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim bin Saif al-Sulaiti and CAA Chairman Abdullah bin Nasser Turki al-Subaey, and discussed aspects of co-operation between the two countries in air transport.

The two sides also agreed on some proposals, including the possibility of exchanging visits, information and expertise, and helping in preparing and issuing new regulations and legislations on civil aviation safety in Iraq in line with European and US systems. This step stems from CAA's experience in the field, particularly after the EU recognised the air safety systems implemented in Qatar in accordance with the memorandum of understanding that was signed between Qatar and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in 2017.

CAA expressed its readiness to offer expertise in airport safety to Iraq after Qatar was ranked as one of the world's top countries in implementing civil aviation safety measures, according to official data released by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2017.

Qatar scored 99.1% in applying the guidelines of annex 17 on safeguarding international civil aviation, which is the main criterion of aviation safety. As a result, this showed the qualitative leap that Doha has made in the field and enhanced its status among world countries in the aviation sector.